A Killer's Accomplice
by CrystallBlueSan
Summary: Minako Tetsugami was an ordinary girl until one email changed her life forever. Minako is faced with a dilemma when she clicks to view it. From Light Yagami... Light and her had been great friends ever since Middle School. Before she knows it, Minako is being blackmailed into becoming Kira's accomplice thanks to her deductive reasoning.
1. The Note

Let me just say It's not my fault. It was his. A Mass murderer known as Kira is responsible of the murders of over 1,000 deaths. He had several accomplices, all had motives for helping him. All of which were willing to carry out any order he gave. All except for one. For my deductive skills, Kira himself tried to con me into believing he was some kind of god. He knew I had a motive to help him, and he thought it was love. It wasn't. It was my life.

It all started with one email. This sounds like it's gonna be really boring and cheesy, but it's the exact opposite. It was early, about one in the morning. I slammed my fist against the counter to wake myself up.

"What could it be now?" I said, delirious and half asleep. I lifted my head from the desk and waited for my vision to clear. I had been up late studying, and that's why I had my head face first into my desk. School was getting really difficult, and the homework load was piling on. I opened up my email and saw another message right on top in the inbox. I sighed. _'Who the hell would be up this late at night?' _I thought, yawning. I shrugged and figured, '_Why the hell not?' _First, I checked the sender, _Light Yagami. 'Light? Could it be that Light? ' _I asked myself. If it was that Light then it would make sense. We had been great friends ever since Middle School, and I was pretty sure he was my lab partner at one point. He was very studious, and highly intelligent. He was probably still awake studying. "That's Light for you, " I sighed, clicking on the email.

_Minako Tetsugami _was the Salutation. Why was Light being so formal? Was it a date proposal or something? Searching down the letter, my eyes widened,

_From Kira... _My mouth dropped open, and the mouse in my hand fell to the ground. "K...Kira...?" Why was Kira sending me a letter? How did Kira even know who I was? _'No,' _I told myself, trying to calm down. _'Curiosity killed the cat and that would apply especially for this reason.' _I was shaking..._'I had to...What if it was only a prank? Then it's okay, right?' _In the end, I did the opposite of the smart thing to do.

_' If you are reading this, then you would easily conclude that I am Kira._

_The Task Force in charge of hunting me down has already confirmed I_

_am a student. They are led by none other than L, the "greatest" detective_

_in the world. This isn't really news to you, though, being the smart_

_Minako that you are. ' I plan to challenge his skills as a detective._

"What?" I gasped, "Light is...Kira?"Despite the surprise, I felt the need to continue .

_They have already discovered I need a name and face to kill,_

_and I have both of yours._

_'Was this some kind of threat?' I thought, rubbing sweat from my eyes. "Is he going to blackmail me? Damn him!'_

_So I hope this will be reason enough for you to join my cause._

_Everything will become clear to you soon. I need your skills and_

_deductive reasoning on my side. If you refuse to my terms,_

_I will kill you. If you leak this information to anyone,_

_I will kill you._

_Meet me outside of your apartment after you read this. Be sure_

_to delete this message immediately and wipe it from your computer._

_ Your Friend and former Lab Partner,_

_ Light Yagami_

As soon as I finished reading the message, the computer went black.


	2. Blackmail

"I did just what you asked, Light." I said. The wind was blowing strands of hair in my face, and the breeze made me shiver, and my teeth chatter furiously. Light had offered a coat and I refused, causing him to drape it over my shoulders anyway. "Now tell my why." Light smirked and grabbed my shoulder gently.

"This world is rotten, Minako, to the core!" He shook me slightly, and I could have sworn I saw a glint of red in his eyes. "For years I've thought this, but now, I have this!" He pulled out a black notebook from his hands and showed it to me.

"Death Note..." I said, reading the letters on the cover "What type of joke is this?" He gently snatched the book from my reading range and opened the first page. What seemed to be a long list of names was written inside.

"Names?" I asked. Light nodded, wearing a nasty smile.

"These are the names of every aired and broadcast criminals in Japan. This is how I kill them. Here, take a look." As soon as he touched my arm with the notebook, my eyes widened, and I ran for an exit.

"What the hell is that THING?" I screamed, pointing my finger at a monster behind him. His skin was a light grey, almost blue-ish color, his limbs were abnormally long and he had large, round, yellow eyes with red irises that seemed to stare straight into my soul.

"Hey." It said, rather casually. "Names' Ryuk. I'm a Shinigami." _'A Shinigami? Why would one be here?_

"What the hell is going on?!" I said, backing into a wall. My heart was beating like a runaway train, going faster and faster. Wouldn't you be confused if your friend turned out to be a serial killer who can kill you at any moment? And to add a cherry on top of all that, a Shinigami was right in front of me.

"Shh." Light said, cupping a hand over my mouth. "If you wake anyone up-"

"You'll kill me." I said, pulling off his hand, "I got the pattern." On the outside, I had calmed down, but on the inside, my heart was beating faster than ever before.

He smiled, "This note came to me." He said, holding up the book.

"More like I dropped it..." Ryuk interjected. Light paid him no attention and moved on with his sentence. _'Wow,' _I thought to myself, _'Light doesn't treat him with any respect; he doesn't suck up to him because he's a Shinigami at all...'_

"I will rid this world of all evil. Doesn't that sound good, Minako?" He said, pulling me in his arms. I wanted nothing more than to break free of his grasp and turn him into the police, but I knew he would kill me far before that could happen.

"This way there will be no crime, and the streets will be clear of villainous scum." I was tempted to say, '_Then the only bad guy left would be you.' _but I quickly decided against it.

"What do you say, Minako san?" Light said, a sneer spread on his face. "Help me, and become the goddess of the new world." I had no choice but to give in. Think about it. He could kill me or any of the ones I cherished most, both friends and family. Damn you, Kira.

"What can I say?" I said, pulling on a fake smile, brushing my hand on his cheek, "I can't disagree to that kind of deal, can I?" I said, as my eyes started to shut. He stared back at me for a while and pressed against my lips. As we shared my first kiss, I silently cursed him. As soon as we pulled away, I brought my sleeve to my mouth. He was obviously trying to gain my trust, and that was not going to be easy. Ryuk started to laugh, either at the awkwardness of the situation or at Kira's foolishness. Even though it was just for show, it felt strange having someone stare at you intently while kissing.

My face felt hot, and it probably was red from embarrassment. Maybe I had still had my more-than-mini crush on him from Middle School when we kissed, but that was long gone. I was painful, but I knew that to gain my enemy's trust, I'd have to listen to everything he tells me. I acknowledged the fact that he was only using me, as a diversion. Then he would strike the Task Force.

"If L's so brilliant, shouldn't we be scared," I asked, "I mean, he already knows you're a student." Light just shook my question off and laughed as If I didn't speak. After a while, he stopped, and said

"Don't worry about that." He said, kissing my hand, "I know L won't immediately suspect the son of Soichiro Yagami, head of the Task Force in Japan. You should get back to sleeping now." I nodded and began to pull off the jacket he gave me. When I blinked again, he had gone.


	3. Encounter

The next morning, I slept through my alarm clock. I couldn't get a good sleep at all, and I felt especially sluggish that morning. I cursed when I realized the time, and quickly prepared myself for the day. Walking down to the cafe for breakfast, I came across a young looking man with unkempt dark hair and big, black eyes with shadows under them. I probably looked a lot like him, considering the fact that I had gotten no sleep.

"Excuse me," He said, making his way inside the elevator door. He pushed the buttons to the fourth floor.

"Fourth Floor as well?" I asked, crossing my arms, casually shifting my weight onto my right foot. He nodded.

"I'm just heading over to the cafe." He said, looking back at me, his wide eyes piercing my soul.

"M...Me too." I said, looking to the side, trying to avoid those blank eyes. There was something strange about that man, and it wasn't even in his eyes. The casual way he was standing, his baggy clothes, bow that I look down at him, he wasn't even wearing shoes! Something about his personality, his aura was off somehow.

Moments of silence passed for what seemed for a very long time.

"So, what's your name?" I asked him, nervously. I wasn't looking for a response, but he answered anyway.

"Call me Hideki Ryuga," He said, using a rather bored tone. "Now it's only fair, you should tell me yours."

"Right." I said, looking back at him, suddenly, I looked away again. "It's Minako. Minako Tetsugami." He looked at me for a moment curiously. I was probably blushing.

"Well then, Minako Tetsugami," He said, crossing his arms, leaning himself the corner of the elevator door. "You should really try to keep that identity of yours a secret." I could only imagine why. So then Hideki Ryuga wasn't this man's real name? In theory, he was absolutely correct. However, Kira already knew my name and face, so it was no use hiding it. Whoever this man was, he definitely was no fool.

"I suppose you're right," I said, looking back at him. "But how did you know me?" Ryuga shrugged his shoulders. "Are you some kind of detective or something?" I hadn't realized that the elevator had opened and a man wearing a dark colored robe and a black hat came into the elevator when we had reached the Second Floor.

"Ah, hello Wattari." Ryuga said as the man boarded. He stared at me blankly for a few moments and said,

"Why don't you sit with me for a cup of coffee or something," His voice and the door slid open.

"Sure..." I said, following the two out. Walking down the hallway, I thought it was even stranger that he wasn't wearing any shoes.

"A detective, you said?" Ryuga asked, using his bored sounding voice. "I guess you could call me that." Wattari trotted behind us, offering us pieces of cake and other sweets.

"Are you from the NPA? I asked the strawberry from on top of the slice of cake in my mouth. "Or the FBI?" Ryuga smiled and shook his head, slowly. He opened the door to the café, and we were immediately seated.

"No, I prefer to work alone. However, the case I'm working on mow makes me break that rule, unfortunately."

"That's too bad." I said, trying to sound as empathetic as possible. I tapped my fingers on the table subconsciously, and Ryuga must've thought I was impatient.

"Are you curious to why you're sitting with me, Minako san?" Ryuga said, tucking in his knees, his feed firmly planted onto his chair. My eyes widened because I wasn't expecting him to say anything. Everything about this young man felt strange, even the way he sat.

"A bit." I responded simply. I couldn't lie, I was definitely curious. Had this encounter not been just a coincident? Or was this man seeking my attention personally?

"Well, I can understand that." He said, bringing his thumb to his mouth, almost brushing it against his pale lips. His eyes were downcast, but I was still in the center of his gaze. He looked up and said, "I've heard great things about you, Minako san. You've solved some small cases that had appeared in your towns and neighborhood. Is this correct?" He picked up a strawberry from his plate of cake and ate it. I nodded, observing the man before me as he finished his third cup of coffee, each overflowing with white sugar cubes. I was only sipping my first cup. A young girl in a maid apron came to our table and placed a bowl of pastries on the center of the table.

"Ah, thank you, miss." He said, taking a chocolate croissant. I reached out to take a green tea jelly roll cake. "Well," He said, in between bites, "The reason for that is simple, there is a case that I find you may be interested with, if of course, you are willing to risk your life."

"A case?" I said, sipping my mug, "What type?" He added another ten sugar cubes in his cup. What was up with that guy? Is sugar good for the brain or something? This guy looked like he had to think a lot on the daily basis. It was kind of disgusting to watch him eat. He was now sprinkling some more sugar into his coffee, on top of the mound of sugar already in the cup.

"The particular case involves a certain mass murderer." My heart dropped. Was he asking me to join the Task Force? If I did, would Light kill me? It was getting harder and harder to breathe already. Had Kira already written down my name in his Death Note?

"You mean Kira?" I said, my voice a hoarse whisper. My throat was dry. Ryuga nodded and took another pastry.

"Yes." He said, licking sugar off his fingers. "I believe that this case is the most difficult one yet…I'll need as much help as I can get." I swallowed. I knew this was the right thing to do, but If I did, Kira would most definitely kill me. Apparently, Ryuga could sense the fear in my voice.

"Are you alright, Minako san?" He asked, handing me a pastry. I nodded.

"I've always wanted to be a detective." I said, smiling. "It's been my dream." Ryuga made a face that showed me I'd pleased him. He pulled out a few papers.

"In that case, I'll need to test you on your deductive reasoning." He said, handing me four passages. "These notes were written by a condemned criminal prior to his death. I believe Kira had manipulated this man before killing him somehow. Please arrange the following passage. Take as much time as you'd like." I swallowed. Even I didn't know that one. Whoever this guy was, he was no rookie. I sighed and racked my brain for ideas while reading the notes in my head.

_'L, do you know gods of death love apples.' _It ended up saying. Still, it didn't make any sense.

"Well, it says, 'L, do you know gods of death love apples." I said. "If you arrange it this way, it reads, 'L, do you know? Love apples, gods of death.' Now that doesn't make sense, does it? Overall, the message is meaningless, are you sure it isn't encoded or if there is another piece to it?" When I looked back at Ryuga, his eyes had widened. At least I think so, because his eyes were naturally wide.

"Amazing deductive reasoning!" He said, "I've asked countless people the same question and its take them minutes to come up with an answer. But you, you were confident in your answer!" Confident, huh? Funny, Ryuga san. I felt like my heart would beat out of my chest. For some reason, ever since that kiss with Light, I had felt like I was always being watched by him.

"Thank you, Ryuga san." I said, smiling.

"Seriously, Minako san, the Task Force needs someone like you." I held my breath,

"I'd love to join." I said, trying to sound confident. "I want to beat Kira as much as you do!" I grabbed a pastry, and squeezed the jelly out of it.

"I'll execute Kira myself!" I clenched my fist. Ryuga smiled and said,

"I'm glad you have a strong sense of justice." He stood up, and touched me on the shoulder.

"Thank you, Minako san." He said. He handed me a piece of paper, an address scribbled on it.

"My address." He said, eyeing my suspicious face. "If you really are interested in this, please come visit me at the time specified. Don't be surprised if there are other people there. The Task Force is having a meeting." He thanked me, and left. Wattori was right behind him. I paid the bill and left for my room in the Sixth Floor, and jumped right onto the computer. I opened up my email and started a chat with Light.

_'Hey Light'_

_'Minako? What's up?'_

_'I met this guy today.'_

_'Really now? What was he like?'_

_'He was strange. Kind of off.'_

_'Yeah, how so?'_

_'He seemed kind of different… Anyway, I found myself joining the Task Force….'_

_'…..'_

Minutes passed and he didn't respond. Was he writing? It was hard to tell. I could only imagine the scene. Ryuk probably was commenting on how 'interesting' the situation was , while laughing. He was probably watching Light write down my name. A lump formed in my throat. Ryuga had said that Kira could control hos victims before killing them. But for how long? Maybe Light had already written my name, but he's just controlling me for a certain amount of time. He might just through me away when he's done using me. Finally, the clawing silence ended with loud ringing. I checked the number, and surely, it was Light. I brought the phone to my ear.

"Hello, this is-" I began to say.

"Shut up, Minako! You idiot!" His voice was intense. I had never heard Light yell before.

"Sorry Light. I felt like this guy was trustworthy!"

"Dammit, you screwed up everything! You're lucky I haven't written your name yet!" I silently sighed in relief. Good. So he hadn't tried yet. Either way, I was being forced to work for this creep. The only problem is that he just might soon.

"Forgive me, my god." I said. My hint of sarcasm must've gotten to him, because he sounded even louder. I chose to ignore him. If I were In front of Light at that time, he wouldn't hesitate to slap me until his hand bleeds. Ever since I figured out he was Kira, he'd become very abusive and different. I think Ryuk's Death Note had possessed him. This was not The Light I had once known.

"Whatever." Light seemed less infuriated and more annoyed than anything. "Actually, it's a good thing you joined. Minako, I have a new assignment for you." I was tempted to say, "Do it yourself, and get off your lazy ass," But I decided against it for my own sake.

"Anything, Kira." Is said.

"Join the task force. Spend some time getting to know their secrets and then kill them for me. Get them to trust you, and figure out their names." I nodded.

"Of course." I said, firmly. Light hung up and the call ended.

"Dammit, that son of a bitch!" I yelled, using my pillow as a punching bag. "If I wasn't so scared of him, I'd kill him!" Anger turned into tears as the pillow fell from my lap to the floor. Once I had calmed down, I looked at the clock. It was still early. I could probably make a quick run-in to the bookstore and take a shower before the meeting.

"Ryuga san, forgive me." I said, draping a coat over my shoulders and tying a scarf around my neck. I grabbed my purse and headed outside.


	4. Intrusion and Introduction

As I pushed open the door, I threw my bag on the ground, and sighed. I stretched, cracked several joints and jumped on top of the bed. At the bookstore that day, where I worked part-time, there was this really annoying couple giving me absolute shit about not carrying the older books they had grown up with or something along those lines. There were also a few missing books and some kids trying to steal raunchy magazines. I had had enough of that place.

"Oh, the meeting. Crap." I said, staring intently at my watch, only then remembering my promise to Light and Ryuga. "Oh, I have time for a shower at least." I said. After a day's work, I only found it fair to have a little time to myself. While stripping off my clothes, I stepped into the shower quickly. The heat level of the water almost burned me.

"Shit." I said, turning the heat down. When it cooled off, I found myself blushing. I felt so good, I could just relax, finally. I tilted my head back, letting the water drip from my face. As soon as I closed my eyes...

There was knocking from the door!

With that, I jumped up. The impact caused me to hit my head on the ceiling.

"Shit!" I furiously turned off the water and scrambled to throw a towel around my waist. "It's opened." I said, quickly. It was probably a newspaper delivery or something. the door opened, and my epes widened.

"Hello, Minako san." Ryuga said, inviting himself inside.

"Forgive me for the short notice, but the hotel I was staying at would not let us host a confidential meeting. Too many cameras." He said, making his way past me and onto the couch. The others piled in as well. I just stared at them, speechless.

"The towel's falling." Ryuga said, blatantly. The other members were blushing, and Matsuda's nose was bleeding. I looked down and squealed, covering my body. I looked back up at them, blushing furiously. I ran back into the bathroom and shut the door. After finishing the shower, I changed into formal wear. No matter where it was, I still needed to go to a meeting. I put a towel around my neck and sat down in the chair across from Ryuga's.

"Again, We apologize for the intrusion, Minako san." Ryuga said, crouching down to his usual position. "And about interrupting your precious shower." The purr in the last bit of that sentence made me blush a bit.

"I see you've found the secret stash." I said sarcastically as Ryuga pulled out a pile of sugary sweets. He avoided my comment and unwrapped all of my candy bars and stacked them like a Jenga tower.

I avoided looking everyone in the eye as the meeting commenced.

"Now that that little perverted episode is over, why don't we begin this meeting." Soichiro Yagami said, clearing his throat. "I am Soichiro Yagami of the NPA." He held of his badge as he introduced. I knew this man was Light's father, and a close friend. Could I tell him about Light? No, what use would that do. Kira could kill his own father if he wanted to.

"Uh..Matsuda." The boy who's nose was bleeding earlier said. He looked the youngest out of the five of them.

"I'm Aizawa." Said a man with an afro,

"Mogi."

"Yukita."

"Minako Tetsugami." I said. Since I had no former connections with the police, I had no ID to show. Luckily, that didn't gain me any dirty looks from the others. L looked straight at us. Actually, it was hard to tell with his big eyes. He folded his hand into a gun shape and pointed it at us.

"Bang!" He said, pulling the imaginary trigger.

"What the hell was that?" Aizawa asked. I couldn't help but giggle at L's gesture.

"If I were Kira, you'd be dead, Mister Soichiro Yagami, Chief of the NPA." L turned

"Kira needs a face and a name in order to commit murder." He said "But I'm sure you've already figured that much out already, haven't you?" He said, looking straight at us.

"Please, do not give out your names so carefully. Instead," He turned away, walking into the room connected to it, "Let's value our lives." He walked inside, leaving us absolutely dumb-founded. I saw Matsuda ask from the corner of my eye,

"I remember Kira needing a face to kill, but I didn't know there was evidence that he needed a name, too." Yagami san stated it was briefly mentioned during a prior meeting.

"Oh, and please turn off your cell phones, handhelds or any other communication devices and put them on the table right there." He said, pointing to a checkered coffee table. Aizawa stepped forward.

"What," He said, clearly offended. "You think we're gonna be using our cell phones during this meeting to leak information?" I actually agreed with the idea. It was only fair to disconnect us to any outside communication, especially since I had my heart set on telling Light what we went over. Yagami san stopped him,

"It's all right, just do what he says." He told him. Reluctantly, we all bent over the coffee table and shut our phones off.

"I realized he's been cautious from the very beginning, but I still can't tell if he trusts us or not." Matsuda whispered. I had decided to be the quiet one in this meeting, since I was new, I wanted to learn everything about L and the case before I blurted anything. However in the quiet department, it wasn't easy to outdo Mogi or Yukita.

"Now I find it distracting," L said, sitting down in his odd position. "I can't stand it when people's cell phones are ringing when I'm trying to talk." As we came into see him, many surprised and curious looks sprouted when they saw his sitting position. Ignoring them, L continued,

"There will be not notes taken in these meetings. That means that when we leave headquarters, any information we need is committed to memory." He said, "Please, Make yourselves comfortable." With that tone of voice and bored gaze, I didn't think he really cared. I hope he did realize this was _my_ home.

However, we stepped forward and sat down onto the couch. He stalked us with his hawk-like eyes. He seemed to examine me for the longest, which sent chills through my spine. To our surprise, (or at least mine,) the couch was rather comfortable. I tried not to make myself too noticeable, and I ended up taking the empty seat next to Aizawa. As L poured himself a cup of coffee, we stared at him, waiting for anything, just something to just start the meeting. In the end though, he just stared at his cup, unsatisfied, and added a few more sugar cubes to it. And when I mean a few, I mean like seven or eight.

"Um, excuse me, L" Matsuda said.

"From now on I'll have to ask you to stop calling me L. It's Ryuzaki now. Just to be safe."

"Uh, Okay, Ryuzaki," Matsuda said, clearly confused. "If we know that he needs a name and a face to kill, couldn't we cut down on the number of victims by keeping criminals' names from the news?" Matsuda had a good point, but since Light had access to police information through Yagami san, I would have to disagree.

"If we do that, we'll only be putting the general public at risk." L said, simply. That was a valid point as well.

"General public?" Yukita asked,

"Why?" Aizawa interjected. They looked at him for a while until he started to stir the sugar into his drink and looked back at us.

"Kira is childish and he hates loosing." He said, firmly. I could barely keep myself from laughing. How true!

"But how do you-"

"Just what do you mean by that, Ryuzaki?" I asked, finally deciding to say something.

"Well, I'm also childish and hate to lose," He said, taking a sip of his over sweetened coffee. "That's how I know."

"Ryuzaki," Yagami san said, "Would you mind being a little more specific for us?" Ryuzaki took a sip of his coffee and stared right at me.

"In the beginning of the investigation, I tried to provoke Kira with that broadcast." It was clear he wanted me to say something.

"By the broadcast, do you mean the one with your stand-in, Lind L. Taylor?" I asked, buckling me knees. He nodded. My stomach turned. That broadcast was the first time I had seen a real death.

"Up until then we thought that Kira would only go after criminals. And as we all witnessed, he didn't hesitate to kill my stand-in." I bit my tongue. How could he use that man's life like that? Are people just pawns to him?

"Also," Ryuzaki continued, "As soon as I told him we knew which region he was in…" He hesitated, and took another sip of coffee.

"He's met every single one of my challenges head-on and he's never missed an opportunity to return the favor." This time he spoke eyeing all of us directly, "Now what do you think would happen if we were to use media restrictions and criminals from someone like that?" That comment left everyone thinking, even me. Almost immediately, Matsuda came up with an answer.

"Uh…" He said, "I guess…"

"Then instead of dangerous criminals, he'd kill petty ones." I said, mimicking what Light would think, "I'm taking the whole world hostage so who's it gonna be?"

"All you who oppose me, you are the true evil." L finished my statement for me.

"That's what he'd say." I told them.

"Yes." Ryuzaki agreed, "Anyways," He turned to the others, "Let's try and think of other ways we can use the media to draw him out."

"But how?" Aizawa asked. Lifting his head and his gaze directly to the ceiling,

"How about something like this?" He said, stroking his chin...


	5. Discussion

"The death of FBI agents infuriates the U.S." He said, creating a mock newspaper article, "Latest killing anger the international policing community. Nations agree to send 1500 investigators to Japan."

"For Kira, this would be even greater of a challenge than the FB!" I said, happily as I poured everyone else a cup of tea.

"You seem really chipper today, Minato san." Matsuda said, taking a sip.

"Because at this rate, Kira will face an even bigger challenge!" I said, nodding. "He'll feel cornered eventually, and then he'll do something out of desperation. Ryuzaki, you're brilliant!"

"Don't thank me yet." Ryuzaki said, carefully sliding a candy bar from the Jenga tower. The others smiled.

"I get it!" Matsuda said,

"So he'll think there are 1500 when in reality there will only be the eight of us. And since none of these investigators exist, Kira won't be able to kill them!" Yukita smiled.

"That might just work!" No one paid attention to Ryuzaki's light tapping against the chair. He crossed his arms and the rest of us turned our heads.

"Well," He said, sarcastically. "Before we _celebrate, _I'll tell you the rest of my thoughts working on this case."

"Um, excuse me, I said, quietly. I hated to interrupt, but I needed to know this to help me keep up to date with them. How much did they trust each other before this meeting. Was this even their first meeting?

"Yes, Minato san, what is it?" Ryuzaki asked, quite impatiently. I fiddled with my fingers for awhile, not knowing how to ask this. I swallowed.

"Um, Ryuzaki, you've been working with the Task Force for quite some time."

"Yes, I have." He agreed, "I don't see how this has anything-"

"Why are you only showing your face now?" He sighed.

"I'll explain it to you later." He said, briskly. I kept my head down as he finished the next sentence.

"Kira works alone," He said, brushing his thumb against his lips. "He had access to all of our classified information."

"What evidence do you have that he's working alone?" Aizawa asked. I shifted in my seat.

"Something the matter, Minato?" He asked, looking over at my paled face. I shook my head and smiled. How could I tell him that he had an accomplice, that he had_ me_? I'd die before I had the chance to.

"He needs a name and a face to kill." Ryuzaki said, unintentionally breaking the tension. "And to some extent, he can control a victim's time of death and their actions before dying. We already know that much." He said, uncapping a thick, black marker. "Please keep that in mind and listen carefully to what I have to say next."

He drew a short, clean line with his marker and said, "On December 14th, twelve FBI investigators were sent to Japan. Finishing his line of characters, he said, "Here we are on December 19th. Using prison inmates, Kira experiments on his victims in various ways. Other words," He said, drawing a straight line from dates, "It would only leave this small window of five days before Kira became aware of the FBI's presence and obviously felt threatened. He needed to know exactly how far he could control the victims before their death and how he could use that against the 12 agents. And as we all know on December 27th,"

My grip on the teacup was so hard, my fingers were turning white. That was the day Light had killed every single agent who was sent from the FBI to Japan.

Ignoring my white knuckles, Ryuzaki continued. "During Kira's period of the 19th to the 27th, at least 23 individuals had died from heart attacks. But these victims were different then Kira's previous targets. They were all alleged criminals, convicts or suspects of ongoing investigations."

"In other words," I said, putting down the cup. "Legally, they were all innocent." Yagami nodded.

"What this indicates, is that Kira had to manipulate these individuals in order to kill these FBI agents." Damn, that L, he was good.

"He killed that many people so we'd be unable to tell the decoys from the ones who he actually used." I said. "That's just unbelievable."

"Yes." Ryuzaki said, "In truth, he probably only needed a few. He waited 8 days so that the FBI could investigate other suspects, which meant there would be no timeline leading into their deaths."

"So Kira must be one of the people the FBI were investigating in that period of time." I said, on the edge of my seat. "Who were they?"

Ryuzaki piled up the papers and handed us each a few.

"Now, you can't take these home with you for obvious security reasons, but these here are the files provided by the FBI. They contain additional information that might be found useful to you all." We each bent over to take one.

"Thanks, Ryuzaki san!" I smiled as he handed it to me with his fingertips.

"Alright!" Aizawa exclaimed, "We'll split up in two teams, one looks at the FBI Agents, the others will investigate all the heart attack victims."

"There weren't even many people who had access to these files, were there?" I said, skimming through them.

"So," Everyone looked up from their papers as Ryuzaki spoke. "Does anyone have any questions?" His voice seemed irritable. What had gotten into him?

"Yes, in fact, I do." Yagami san said, "And involves what you said about you saying that you hate to loose. Does the fact that you've shown us your face today mean that you've lost? By being here today, are you admitting your defeat to Kira?"

"Thats right." Ryuzaki said with absolutely no hesitation. "By showing my face to you now and by sacrificing the lives of 12 FBI agents, I have lost the battle." His stare moved to all of us. "But I'm not going to lose the war." He said, confidently. "This is the first time I've ever put my life on the line

I want to show Kira that we're willing to risk our lives if that's what it'll take." 'Don't worry, Ryuzaki san, I'm doing plenty of that,' I thought to myself.

He smirked, "and that justice will prevail no matter what."

"Hey, yeah that's right!"

"We can do this!

"Alright!" Aizawa said, with a mix of cheerfulness and confidence.

"To Justice!" I said, and together, we touched each glass to each other. He started to laugh.

"Before we go any further with this investigation," Ryuzaki said, turning our attentions back to him. "I need to make sure none of you are Kira. I will have to meet with each of you individually. The way he said individually, and the look he gave me when he said it both sent a nasty shiver down my spine.

"What's the deal, he still doesn't trust us?" Aizawa said, shocked. I shook my head.

"It's not that he doesn't trust us." I said, calmly. "Try to see it from his perspective, Aisawa san. He has never shown his face to anyone before, hasn't he. I think it's a fair request, right, Yagami san?" He nodded, and Aizawa relaxed a little. I looked up at Ryuzaki, but all that was there was an empty seat full of candy wrappers and crumbs. He stood by the window, as if he was trying to see from it.

"Just one more clue." I almost swore I heard him mumble.


	6. Taking Action

Yagami san had then assigned us into the two groups. Aizawa, Matsuda, Ryuzaki and I would investigate the FBI agents, while Yagami san, Yukita and Mogi were to work on the heart attack victims. Having Ryuzaki on our team was absolutely pointless, seeing as though he had written most of this information himself. Still, it helped with the research. By the end of the night, we had all the entire pages memorized completely. Ryuzaki had told me to meet him in the same cafe the next day after school.

Crap!

Just then I completely forgot to put any studying time in that night.

"Oh, and I've informed your school that you've been working all night on the Kira investigation." Ryuzaki said, his reaction to seeing my haunted face. "You can still go to school, but you won't be graded on anything until your finals." He could do that? Well, I guess he is L. He probably called up the school with that altered voice and told them.

"Thank you." I said, as he was heading out.

"Well, I don't want you to be falling asleep during a meeting. That wouldn't be good, now would it?" I shook my head and he left. The rest filed out as well.

"It was nice to meet you all!" I said, after them." Matsuda smiled and waved back

"You too, Minako!" Aizawa.

"Yeah, see ya." Yukita said.

As soon as they left, I jumped into bed, clothes and all. Hell, at that point, changing or brushing my teeth didn't make a difference to me. I just needed some goddamn sleep. That night, I dreamed of Ryuzaki san. Not in any kind of perverted way, but those eyes of his always filled me with wonder. I dreamed that he had discovered that Light was using me in his sick, twisted game. He had saved me from him and locked him far, far away. It comforted me, really. Since I had basically given up all hope, Ryuzaki suddenly appeared, and for some reason, I felt safe when I'm close to him.

No. I had to stop thinking like that. He was the enemy, remember? I couldn't get distracted so easily by him. All I had to do was get close to them, then Light would kill Ryuzaki and It would all be over. I'd be safe at last.

But what if there was some way to get rid of Light? No, He was way too smart to be fooled like that. That night, my sleep was polluted with desperate thoughts. I tossed around in my bed and cried into the pillow. I just wanted my life to end at last. To cease all of my suffering.

The alarm woke me up the next morning. Slowly, I made myself get out of bed, and wiped the sleep from my eyes. I slowly peeled off my clothes and changed into my uniform. I brushed my hair and teeth, and washed my face clean. I grabbed my bag and locked up the hotel room.

On my way to school, Light found me, waved cheerfully, and ran over. I avoided looking into his eyes.

"Hey!" He said, casually. then as people moved towards the school, he whispered in my ear,

"What did you find out yesterday?" His lip brushed lightly against my ear as he spoke, briskly. I whispered back to him,

"Look in the bag." And sighed as he pulled out the FBI papers.

"How'd you get this?" Light asked, quickly skimming through the stack.

"L handed them out to us." I told him, my voice still a hoarse whisper. "He collected them at the end of the meeting. It was a sinch getting them past him." He smiled and stuffed the papers into his bag.

"They know everything about you, besides the fact that you are Light Yagami. L has met each of your challenges head on and his investigation was flawless. But I assume we'll come up with a solution."

"That is correct." Light said. I had just noticed Ryuk trailing behind us.

"Won't this L guy see through it again?" He said as I looked over. He was eating an apple as usual. I guess he didn't care that others could see only a floating apple. Light obviously did, seeing as though he yelled at him to stop eating apples in public. Ryuk warned us of his withdrawal and finished eating the apple.

"Not this time." Light said, walking ahead of me. "Tell me about the meeting you'll have with L later. Take these pages for a while." He said, handing me a few ripped pages from the book. "Ryuk, why don't you follow her for today." I nodded and stuffed the papers in the breast pocket of my uniform. I walked into the school building.

First Period was English. I sat myself down, in my seat next to Light of course. I rested my cheek on my palm and the teacher began his lecture.

"Would someone please translate this line into English?" The teacher said in flawless Japanese. "How about you, miss Tetsugami?" I stood up from the seat and translated in the best English I could.

"Perfect as usual, Tetsugami san." I bowed and sat back down. The boy on the other side to me gave me a thumbs up sign and passed a love note to me. As the bell rang, I crumpled up the paper and tossed it in the garbage tin, dismissively. Ryuk chuckled.

"That's pretty cold of you." He said in between laughs. I sighed.

"You have no idea how many of these I get on a daily basis." I said, and swung my bag over my shoulder. It was so annoying, having someone follow you around all day, I don't know how Light could deal with it.

"Oh, I do." He said, with a slight purr to his voice. I blocked out his annoying comments for the rest of the school day. On my way back to the hotel, I stopped.

"Must you follow me everywhere I go?" I asked, impatiently. I yanked the key into the keyhole and was beginning to turn it when he answered.

"Well, I don't really want to, but Light was the one who asked me to. Maybe you should take it up to him." He said, digging into my bag and pulling out an apple and taking a big bite. In an exasperated tone, I replied,

"I don't think so." and pulled the key out. I held the door for the Death god as I made my way in. I threw my bag on the floor and yawned, stretching my hands behind my head.

"I'm taking a bath. You're not following me in there." I said grumpily and grabbed a change of clothes and locked myself inside. I pulled out the Death Note pages out of my breast pocket and put them on the counter. As soon as the water filled the tub, I stepped inside and lied down. The soothing feel of the warm water on my skin calmed my racing mind. Now that I was alone, I could finally think of a plan to save my hide.

'I could print out the message he sent-' I began to think, 'but no, didn't Light hack my computer and delete the message? And what kind of evidence would that be? Ryuzaki would think I'd framed him. But that man doesn't trust me enough yet.' I racked my brain for another answer.

Maybe I could just kill Light. I knew his name and face, didn't I? And he gave me the notebook, which was the most foolish thing to do. There's no way he'd let that happen, no simple trick would fool him. Maybe he was testing my loyalty to him.

'Think, Minako, Think.' I tucked my knees in.

I had such an advantage over him, I couldn't think of anything but kill him, but this was for sure a test. Somehow, Light would have thought ahead and had taken action. He thinks like Ryuzaki san, and that's what scared me. He's always ahead of the game, always ready for anything the Task Force throws at him.

But he won't be ready for me.


	7. Realization

"You okay in there?" I heard Ryuk's voice from the other room. "You've been in there for like an hour." I turned off the water and dressed in a robe.

"Yeah, yeah." I said as I walked out and jumped on my bed. "I'm heading out, Ryuk. Wanna come?" I said, going into the bathroom and changing into clothes.

"Naaah." He said, lazily. "Just get me some apples. We're running out." I frowned.

"Running out, i just got-" I cut myself of as pulled out an empty bag that had recently been filled to the brim with red apples. I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Dammit, Ryuk!" I said as I threw the bag away.

On the way to the cafe, I ran into Light. Quickly, he handed me back the papers and whispered,

"Okay, I've read them all and taken notes. Now you can give them back to L before he realizes they were gone." I nodded and the elevator stopped to my floor.

"Good Luck." He said as I left. As I walked down the hall, several teenagers, children and parents were whispering rumours about Kira. Some woman suspected he had an accomplice to help him keep up with the Task Force. I avoided these people and kept walking. Those people were wrong. Light could easily take down the entire Task Force, it was only L he was worried about. But he was still confident that with the note, and the additional brains (me), he could hold the entire world in his hands.

"Minako san." someone grasped my shoulders and I shook myself out of my thoughts. I jumped and realized it was only Ryuzaki.

"Sorry." I said, sheepishly. "Did I dose off?" He nodded.

"I called your name." He said, as he frowned. "You didn't respond." I blushed and grabbed my bag.

"Sorry, Ryuzaki san." I said, pulling out the FBI papers. His expression shifted.

"Why do you have these?" He asked, taking them back, quickly. He stuffed them in his shirt. I put an arm behind my head.

"You forgot to take mine back yesterday." I quickly improvised. "Sorry for the late notice, but I didn't notice until just this morning." He stared at me for a while with his large, empty eyes, and then finally, he nodded, giving a look of approval. A sigh of relief escaped my mouth.

"That was careless of me." He said, casually and sat us down at a table. "Now I can only assume you didn't use these at all since yesterday or show them to anyone." I bit my tongue. I wasn't a good liar at all, but Light made it look so easy.

"Of course not." I said, sitting down in the chair next to him. "We're in this together, remember ?" His expression softened as he crouched down on his chair.

"Yes we are, Minako san, yes we are." Ryuzaki said, ordering a coffee. A few moments later, the coffee arrived at the table. "Some sugar, please." He said to the waitress, and she came back with a container full of sugar cubes. He plopped about ten cubes into his black coffee to start. Knowing Ryuzaki san, there was no way that would be enough.

"To answer your question," He said, pouring me a cup of the black coffee. "The reason I only then decided to show my face..." I smiled, putting my hand over his.

"I understand already." I said, softly. "You don't need to say it." He curved his mouth into somewhat of a smile and poured as many sugar cubes that he used into my cup.

"It's okay, I prefer bla-" I said but was cut off by the splash the sugar made as he plopped it in. "Thanks." I said with a fake smile and brought the cup to my lips. The sickly sweet aroma made my stomach curdle. The color of the liquid had lightened immensely, and turned to a rich, creamy color. As soon as I sipped the caramel colored liquid, I wish I hadn't. How could Ryuzaki san drink this? When he looked away to examine the rest of the cafe, I screwed up my face and spat it back into the mug.

"Did you say something, Minako san?" he said looking back to me, leaning his cheek against his palm. I shook my head.

"Nothing." I said, smiling. He slowly shifted his gaze from the ground right on me. His head was still downcast and his mouth was curled into a small smile, his thumb brushing against his lips.

I felt my face go red.

"Do you know why I asked you to meet me here today, Minako san?" He asked, with a slight purr in his voice. I shook my head.

"Is it to discuss the Kira case? Or is that too private. There are too many people here." He nodded.

"Yes. You know how cautious I am when it comes to this sort of thing." He said, sipping his coffee.

"How was it, by the way?"

"What?" I asked. He gestured to the sugary drink. "Oh." I said. "It's a bit sweet, but it's not too bad."

"Yes." Ryuzaki said, taking a big gulp. "Sugar is good for the brain, after all." Sure, Ryuzaki. But how did he maintain his wait?

As if reading my mind, he answered my question. "I find that you don't gain any weight if you burn calories using your brain." He said, ordering two pieces of cheesecake. For himself of course. I found myself staring at him.

"What is it?" He asked, "You've been staring at me for twenty minutes." I snapped out of my gaze, that had been conveniently locked on his cake.

"Oh, I see." You're upset because I'm the only one eating cake at the moment." He said.

"Oh, no." I said, shaking my head. He nodded and continued to eat his cake. I caught him off guard, as he was staring out the window.

"Oh." I said, snapping him back into the universe. "I almost forgot to tell you." Ryuzaki's head turned. "I rented an apartment."

"Is that right?" He said, crossing his arms. His tone hinted a lack of interest.

"Yes." I said, quickly. "I was concerned that our conversations and meetings with the Task Force were being intruded on. As of today, I will no longer be staying here. I guess I should give you my address..." I grabbed a pen from my pocket and scribbled the address and handed it to him. Ryuzaki showed little interest as he took the paper and stuffed it into his side pockets.

"Say, Ryuzaki?" I asked as he fumbled with the piece of paper. "That day we met, why did you go out in public? And how did you know my name?" His expression hardened slightly, and his toes rubbed against each other, impatiently. He stared hard at me for several minutes, as though he expected me to figure it out myself.

At last, he responded. A simple sigh escaped his mouth as his downwards-sloping shoulders began to slouch even lower.

"It's amazing what you can learn from the internet." He said, simply, as he sipped his coffee. "Easily accessible Government files contain plenty of background information on a person. It's surprising, the amount of information one can learn about the other."

"That's very true." I said, weakly. "But why me specifically?" The detective sipped his coffee and sat it down on the table. He had a few crumbs around his mouth. It was amusing how he either didn't know, or didn't care.

"Minako Tetsugami..." He spoke softly so no one could hear my real name. Thoughtfulness poured into his words. "You were a small time detective, known for your deducing skills and amazing abilities. You see things through to the end, and you've never backed down to a case, no matter how strenuous. I found you through these government files, of course. After I had researched you thouroughly, I decided I must meet her in person. From these files, I figured out where you live, so I took a short flight and booked a room at this very hotel."

I shuddered at the thought of being stalked. What if someone else had come across these files. I may have been in more trouble then if someone with other intentions discovered them. I knew the government had top secret government files containing every last detail of a person. No one's identity was a secret.

Except for Ryuzaki's. It would be the hardest assignment Light had given me, to find out L's real name and kill him. If only he wouldn't be so cautious...

"I needed to be sure I'd meet you when I went to the cafe. I din't want to speak with you in the rooms because of the obvious security cameras. That's why I wore a hoodie to conceal my face."

I didn't even notice the hoodie until he told me. I din't think of it. The jacket was indeed hanging on the edge of the seat.

"I hoped you would come. If you didn't I'd have risked my life for no reason." Ryuzaki spoke calmly and clearly, as if repeating himself for the third time.

"But why go to such a length for one person? Ryuzaki put another few sugar cubes into his far-from-black cup of coffee.

"My research on you came to a conclusion when I had discovered you. Two years ago, I posed as a civilian, and offered you a case, which you indeed accepted."

That couldn't be. There wasn't anyone who looked the slightest bit like Ryuzaki that I helped out. Definitely not two years ago.


	8. Apprentice

Author's Note:

Sorry for the short chapter, I guess the juices weren't quite flowing how they usually do. a lot of people have been asking me to pit a translation of the title in an Author's Note. The translation is iffy, but its,キラーの共犯. It's supposedly pronounced "Kirā no kyōhan," but this is all from Google Translate... So, even though it's short, hope you like the chapter!

The year before last was a slow year for business. I guess that was a good thing, because of the decrease in crimes. But I didn't get paid, and I remembered it. Since I had to pay for school, It really affected me. In a really horrible way. I barely had enough savings to get into my sophomore year, much less anything else, really. I started a part time job in the local library, helping customers and scanning books until I would earn enough money to continue the school year. I still worked as a detective to raise money for my school.

But then I remembered...

There was one man.. He was middle-aged and looked nothing like Ryuzaki. The man seemed strangely cautious and often tried not to be seen by anyone. And I did see dark circles under his eyes, much like Ryuzaki's. But I couldn't believe it. It wasn't really him, was it? Now that I thought about it, he often stuffed his hands in his pockets and slouched. I looked at the man in front of me and thought of the guy.

"Ah, hell no..." I whispered to myself. Ryuzaki smiled.

"Yes." He said, pulling out a picture from his pocket and handing it to me. It was a picture of Ryuzaki in his disguise. I took it and examined the features.

"I've met L..." I said, quietly, slumping back in my chair. I was so shocked, I even drank a bit of the coffee. Ryuzaki chuckled.

"My god!"

Ryuzaki brought a finger to his lips to silence me. He couldn't afford anyone to hear us. At least the two of us were sitting in the very back of the cafe, the best seat for a private conversation. I quickly stopped talking and looked out the window, resting my hand on my palm. Even though I tried not to think about it, the fact remained that L had gone out of his way to meet me in person, disguised or not.

"How did you even learn my name?" I asked, avoiding his eyes. Ryuzaki hesitated for a while. "I'm just a small-time detective, after all. Why would you even bother looking for me?" His face tightened.

"Minako san." He said, sternly, his mouth full of cake and coffee. "You shouldn't count yourself out like that. Give yourself more credit." an awkward silence rose. Ryuzaki folded his arms.

"Why shouldn't I know who you are?" He finally replied, putting even more sugar cubes into his coffee. "Your grades are one of the best in Japan. You follow just slightly after Light Yagami, after all."

Now that I thought of it, more than a few people off the street knew who I was, and at the library, too. I had forgotten that I had scored almost a perfect grade for years.

"You're dodging my question." I concluded, impatiently. This L character was hard to decipher. He was sneaky and is usually very straight to the point. But now, why was he so hesitant to answer my question. It's as if he couldn't speak to me, no, even look at me, without thinking I was Kira or something. Maybe he didn't feel safe around me. He could end up leaking information. But We both knew that twasn't going to happen. If I had L's position, I would stay away from people like me. But somehow he trusted me? At least a little, maybe. Aftrall, he did reveal his identity to me. He even let me join the Task Force. He was acting way too cautious, that or just nervous. But that was very unlikely. So what was it?

He sighed.

"Forgive me." He spoke very sarcastically. "I'm not being clear, am I, Minako san? Let me spell it out for you."

Great. Now I thought I was an idiot.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like..You know.." I stuttered. "Go on." Ryuzaki lightened up a bit.

"With your skills, I need you..." He said, confidently. "To be my apprentice!"


	9. Consideration

I thought about what Ryuzaki said while lying in bed. I knew there was no way I could get any sleep. Hours had passed, and the clock wasn't moving fast enough. I closed my eyes. He asked _me _to be his apprentice? You mean, to work under L, the greatest detective this world has ever seen? No,' told myself that Light wouldn't allow it, but then I realized. Any chance I can get to get close to L, I should take. Finally, I decided I should call Watari's phone and let him know.

While dialing the number, I hesitated. What if Ryuzaki himself answered? What would I say then? the ringing of the phone pounded into my ears like drums.

"Hello?" The voice of Ryuzaki asked. A lump formed in my throat. I gripped the phone harder, my fingers turning white.

"Oh, hello, Ryuzaki san." I mumbled. I wondered if he even heard me, I spoke so quietly.

"Ah." He said, realizing my voice. "What is it, calling at this hour-" I swallowed. What was I getting myself into. I felt so embarrassed talking to him, but I wondered why. If I were to work close to him, In needed to be able to at least talk to him. But now he thought I was an idiot thanks to my ridiculous actions the day before.

"I've come to a conclusion about your offer. I've decided to work for you, Ryuzaki, er, sama?" I heard a soft chuckle from the other end,

"Please Tetsugami san, no need to flatter me. Being so formal makes you sound mechanical, you know." A brief silence followed our conversation. One of us needed to speak.

"So, what is is?" He asked, impatiently. The tone in his voice suggested boredom with a mix of sleepiness. Well, that was his normal voice? Had I waken Ryuzaki? No, that can't be. The man probably doesn't know what the word "sleep" is, judging by those dark circles under his eyes.

-"Because I need to sleep too, you know?"

Oh.

"I've decided I'll work for you." I spoke with as much confidence I could. I imagined a wide grin spread across his face.

"I knew you'd see it my way." He even spoke like he'd been lightened up by my answer. He no longer seemed anxious and bored. "Meet me in the Task Force Building, 2:00. I'll be waiting."

"Wait." I said, desperate to keep the conversation. I wasn't ready to stop talking. I needed something or _someone _to distract me.

"What is is?" He asked, sternly. I could hear him tapping his fingers on his desk.

"Ryuzaki... " I hesitated. I was tempted to tell him about everything, about Light and the blackmailing, the Shinigami and the note. I mean, how would Light even figure out? But there was other news. "Do you remember Naomi Misora?"

He tensed up.

"Yes. I worked with her on a case, and afterwards she came to Japan with her fiance, Raye Penber, who was in charge of following Light Yagami."

"Yes." I nodded. "She was found dead, near the Task Force Police Office. It seemed there were no witnesses."

"How do you know about this?" He asked. He sounded upset, but only mildly. "If there was no one around?"

"We discussed it in a private police meeting. Aizawa, Matsuda, and Yagami san decided we'd keep her death from the public. I knew you'd already figured it out, but...I'm sorry."

"What relevance does that have?" He asked, sleepily. I swallowed.

"I think it was Kira." I mumbled, quietly. I heard nothing, as Ryuzaki had probably deduced this by now.

"Are you sure?" He asked. Judging by this, he hasn't. I carefully explained to him my views on Kira. I told him that it was very possible that Kira could kill in more ways than a heart attack. I could hear his heart beating.

"Are you sure about this Minako?" He asked, suddenly lively again. I nodded and cleared my throat.

"That's what I've deduced." His attitude had changed. He no longer seemed bored, uninterested and unmotivated, now he seemed lively and excited, like a little kid. He still had a cold aura though.

"We'll bring it up at our next meeting." His tone calmed and it seemed as though he was grinning. "You should get some rest now, If you want to meet up with the Task Force tomorrow." I nodded, hanging up.

"Who was it?" Ryuk asked, munching on another apple. I ignored him and went right to sleep.

That night was filled with sweet dreams, replacing the nightmares that came and haunted my sleep. More vivid dreams of Light being locked in a prison far away. Ryuzaki would teach me and take me under his wing. If he died, I could be his successor. I think he suspects Kira to kill him so a successor could take over, just in case.

When I woke, Ryuk was gone and so was the Death note. He was probably bored of me and went over to Light's. Well, that's good. It means less trouble for me. On my way to the book store, I ran into Light, and sure enough, Ryuk was following right behind.

"Ryuk, why did you come back?" Light mumbled to the Shinigami. He was slightly irritated. I love how Light tries to keep his cool during any situation, even when people are being uncooperative or dumb. "I told you to follow Mina-oh, there you are." Light smiled and waved as I walked towards him.

"Hey, Light." I said, tiredly. "You never come this way to your school." I attempted a smile. He moved closer to me to ask me a private question.

"What information did you gather last night?" He asked, quietly. His lips were practically brushing my ear as he spoke which caused my face to red a little. I cleared my throat.

"L is planning to make me his apprentice. He asked me yesterday at the cafe we always meet at." Light moved back, but he was still invading my personal space.

"Did you accept?" I nodded.

"I figured it would be a great opportunity to get closer to him. I'll see L every day now, so hopefully I can understand him more, and figures out how much he knows...about us." He nodded, a small grin fixed to his face.

"Very good, Minako." He whispered and moved on to go to his school. "At this rate, he'll never suspect you. Unless he really does suit his reputation." I saw him off and continued on my path to school, thinking about Ryuzaki the whole time. I was worried he'd see through me immediately, and not give me a chance, after all, he was the most conscious person she'd ever met besides Light. But he seemed rather attached to her. What I didn't notice was a pair of two, large eyes following me.


End file.
